These any good for plinking?

[gunnut]

LOL! A lobster hunt with 450Bs would be fun! Would need a good retriever!

[BarracudaBob]

Thanks for the warm how de do!

Well it is around 2am and this strange sound woke me up. I think they call it thunder? Probably the biggest thunderstorm of they year so far. Spring is officially here in South Florida.

Here is my 284 win brass story. As my wife would put it "Geek with a gun"...

I took a different approach. Probably not the safest but after screwing up a bunch of brass I started getting creative. First I tried using the Lee Case Length Gage. That was a waist of money. No office against Lee. They make good inexpensive stuff and got me started in reloading. I still have a shell stuck to it. I considered making a cone shape out of it but it just never happened.

Then I got the crazy idea of using the bullet to expand the shell. I would load up a bunch of the cut & trimmed .284 win without powder. And then use a Cabela's Bullet Puller Item:XK-214931. After pulling them I would resize them again and put 35gr of H110 with a mag primer. The bullet I pulled would be used for the next virgin case. You could plainly see that the base of the bullet was less than .452. The concept was once fired the case would expand by fire forging. I figured that as long as ½ of the bullet was still .452 I would get a good gas seal and build up some pressure. Believe me those first few round I had sand bags around the receiver. Fortunately the only bad thing that happened was a few that were to long. When I pulled the charging handle back the bullet stuck in the lands and the cace came back dumping powder into my trigger. I keep a can of break cleaner in the range box for this.

This worked but what also happened is I would get a dark gas burn around the outer edge and one side of brass. I had to tumble them for a bit to clean them up. I don’t care if my brass is all shiny. I just want it to be good and functional. I trimmed the case again to 1.690 and reloaded. After the 2nd time they perfectly matched my chamber. What I found is that they grew lengthwise a little while things were taking shape. After the 2nd fire forging they didn’t grow that much anymore. They ended up to be 1.697 and that seemed to be my lucky number.

Notes on the powder. I have a bunch of H110. That is some powerful stuff. Conceder that the 450BM uses about twice the powder of a 44 Mag. The H110 recoil if more like a strong smack where the Lil'gun is more of a shove. Both perform well. From a shooting enjoyment point of view stick with the Lil”gun. From an economic point of view I have 8lbs of H110.

I took my first deer two years ago with a 250gr FTX in a CVA Buckhorn. I was so impressed with the carnage that bullet left that I jumped onto Thumper. This year the poor creatures didn’t stand a chance. I go up to the in-laws in Georgia to hunt. In rapid succession I took a doe and a buck walked up the hill. What a great day, well except for rolling the 4 wheeler.

Great bullet but as we all know it is expensive. I do must of my shooting from October to April. Then it is just too hot down here in south Florida. I was get everything all sighted in before I shut the safe door for a while.

[BarracudaBob]

Lobsters with a “thumper” that would be more like Lobster Bisque!

To answer the crimp question I just used the Hornady roll crimp die. If you pulled real hard the bullet would exit the shell. I have been reading about modifying other crimp dies but haven’t tried that yet.

On my power head/bang stick we use Locktight 290 to water proof the primers and the bullet to the shell. I have shot these same 357 out of my GP100 with out any problems. It dries over night and doesn’t require any other nail polish or waterproofing agent.

The “Green Locktight” cures when confined in the absence of air between the metal surfaces. 290 isn’t that strong but strong enough to hold the projectile in. The primers aren’t difficult to remove either.

[bushmeister]

I like lobster bisque, and am PADI certified, so I guess I qualify as a retriever. Sounds like all I need is some of that waterproof locktite and I'll be good to go Good shooting BTW!
Where in GA do you do your hunting?

[BarracudaBob]

I hunt in Ellijay, GA, North FL, and locally for hog, fish, & lobster. I just found out last fall about 20K acres of public land that is I can hunt on that 30 minutes from the house. Very controlled area but loaded with hog. I feel that I have to have a lawyer explain the rules to me.

This year has been one of the windiest & cold here in FL in the past 15 years. That gave me a lot more range time. You know what they say. Idol mind is a devils playground

[pitted bore]

To answer the crimp question I just used the Hornady roll crimp die. If you pulled real hard the bullet would exit the shell. I have been reading about modifying other crimp dies but haven’t tried that yet.

BarracudaBob-
The standard advice handed out for reloading the 450B is to avoid the roll crimper that is supplied in the Hornady seating die.

Are you applying the roll crimp with the seating die, or are you using the separate taper crimp die that Hornady supplies in their four-die set? Conventional thinking is that the roll crimp can mess with the headspace dimension by altering case mouth diameter, and can cause problems. It's not clear to me why Hornady supplied the roll crimper in the seating die since they recommend only taper crimping.

Thanks.

--Bob

[BarracudaBob]

I was reading up on the modified 45-70 crimp. Looks good. I'll put one on my next Midway Order. The only projectiles I am interested in now are the 250gr FTX, 230gr FMJ, & 300 gr gas check. I bought the Lee 6 cavity 230gr round nose and love them for my 45acp. I have a box of Hornady gas checks but they won't go on the Lee 230gr.

For around $39 I can pick up one of these:
Lee 6-Cavity Bullet Mold 452-300-RF 454 Casull 300 Grain Flat Nose Gas Check
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?p ... ber=440679

I was curious if anybody tried them. I have plenty of lead from scuba weights & sinkers. Pretty soft stuff. Then I would have to get the alloy and mix it. A reloader's work is never done.

Sometimes it is easier to stick with something that already works. I have great luck with:
Magtech Bullets .452 230gr FMJ about $0.196/each
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?p ... 1657604862

Still could use a nice crimp die. Right now I am using the bullet to run into the lans to prevent the head spacing problem. Somebody should make them and put them for sale here. I am pretty handy but I don't have access to a lathe. I want a crimp but not to aggressive of one.

[Hoot]

...snip...
Sometimes it is easier to stick with something that already works. I have great luck with:
Magtech Bullets .452 230gr FMJ about $0.196/each
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?p ... 862...snip

Does "Out of Stock. No Backorder." mean that Midway is discontinuing carrying them, or is Magtech discontinuing supplying Midway with them at that price? Lately, it seems like every time reloader's find an opportunity to save money, if the company also sells loaded ammunition, at a greater profit, that is the kiss of death. Tried to find Hornady 450B brass lately? Almost as rare as hen's teeth.
Hoot

[Hoot]

Well, I gave it the college try, but the 230 gr Plated Berrys and the 230 gr (non-magnum) XTPs are out.

In the case of the Berrys. With only 1/2 caliber insertion depth, After the taper crimp, they were tight, but after the FCD, they were loose enough to rotate a little to and fro. I could actually pulled a few out with my fingers. I suspect the soft lead and thin jacket lack spring-back. Like crimping wax. All I can see here would be the potential for taper crimping with an adhesive sealing compound like you see on military rounds. In that case, it would be hard to "calibrate" the amount of adhesive to use for consistent, reproducible results.

In the case of the XTPs. With about 3/4 caliber insertion depth. Like the Berrys, the taper crimp yielded a firm seat, but after the FCD, they too were loose enough to wiggle a little to and fro.

Though the Berrys came out easily in the inertial puller, the XTPs took quite a few whacks to dislodge. While the XTPs were restrained well, that fact that I could rotate them a little to and fro did not give me a lot of faith in their ability to hold back the expanding gas before breaking free of the brass.

As has already been said numerous times, thick, springy jackets and full caliber insertion depth seems to be the order of the day. Hey lead guys. Do your bullets wiggle a little after crimping them with the FCD? Is that okay if they're physically restrained well enough?

Got the truck all loaded for an early trip to the range tomorrow morning.

Hoot